NEWS
Dell showed off a "proof of concept" smartphone at a China Mobile event on Monday - a device reportedly named the Mini 3i.
Rumours began to circulate concerning the Mini 3i almost immediately after it was presented at the event but Dell said it has not yet announced any smartphone for the China market.
A Dell spokesman said: "Dell was there supporting China Mobile as a development partner. We did not confirm or announce anything." However, the spokesman confirmed that a "proof of concept mobile device prototype" was shown off at the event.
Photos that have emerged of the proof of concept depict a black, candybar-style handset equipped with a touchscreen and stamped with the Dell logo on the back.
Reports from the China Mobile event, which introduced the mobile operator's Android-based Open Mobile System, say the Mini 3i was confined to operating on a 2G GSM network - with no wi-fi access - but had a three-megapixel camera, Bluetooth and a slot for a microSD card.
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1. anonymous
Dell are way too late to the party.
They should have added phone functionality to their famed touchscreen Windows Mobile best of breed Axim X50/51 range 3 years ago, instead of junking them so they could sell Satnav's and other people's consumer electronic's tat.
A phoned up Axim with several Gb of flash memory would have made the iPhone a non-starter.
Dell - D'oh.